My iMac with Tiger 10.4 has been hacked for about a year now. I think it is just one guy doing it. I was hacked for a couple of years once before, and I got all upset and sought justice and reported it, and demanded answers, and found out nobody really gave a crap. So this time I decided to save myself the aggravation and just try to live with it. I am a full-time freelance writer and I have to have a computer. I live mostly on disability and can't run out and buy a new one.

The hacker and I had some bad moments and even some good ones. Lately it is all bad. He hacked my little 17-incher because Tiger 10.4 make good servers and that's what he does. He was using so much CPU's my whole desk was shaking and reverberating. I make a habit of going to activity monitor and killing the worst processes, but I can't do it all day every day. I told him he was killing the computer, and now he finally has. There is a whisper of memory left. He spent this week tossing overboard every application and all my files. His, he mostly kept.

I have gone literally nuts trying to get this box back from him. I studied Unix but he made sure that my shells on the BSD are all read-only. I can't erase and re-install because he damaged my installation disk and I haven't gotten a new one yet, although he would do the same thing again. Disk utility says it can't fix it. I am writing this on a Linux CD I am able to use because as of yesterday he has locked me out of my own computer. I tried to download password crackers, but the instructions are just too complicated for me. I must say though, I have learned plenty about computers since this started. I catch him at a lot of his tricks.

This man is very, very clever and he is bright. For a while there when we lived under a peace treaty, my idea, I almost thought we could be friends. But now he has gone nuts. How long does he think he can keep me out of a computer that is sitting on my desk?

The worst part of it all is that I have lost the respect of my children, ages 20 and 23. They carted me off to the psych ward because they say my computer is not hacked, I just don't know anything about computers. Everything, says my son, is exactly the way Apple sent it from the factory. Sure, with 11 compressed Tiger 09 classic operating systems. They put those in every single computer, don't they? He took over my printer for his workgroup and doesn't let me use it. But that's a moot point now that he has tossed it overboard too.

He writes me these very strange ranting notes that make almost no sense. He snoops on every single thing I do. I recently found his files of all my contacts with their e-mail and street addresses. I hate to think what he's planning to do with those. He even hacks my place of employment and posts business correspondence on the desktop. He reads every single e-mail I get, and posts some of those up. He is obsessed with my every movement.

I told him I wouldn't try to turn him in and I have kept my promise. He has now cost me a career I can no longer do without dependable access to a computer, and a computer that I paid over a grand for. He also cost me several lucrative writing deals, one was several books.

Where do I go from here? How do I get in my computer? How do I erase all the crap he's stocked up in their and wipe him out so he'll get the hell out and leave me alone? I think I did have a bit of a breakdown when I went to the hospital, and I may be about to have another. All I do every day is obsess about getting my computer back. I live alone and don't socialize much. My computer was my whole world.

Based on what you have said that he/she could even access your pc when your at work?! maybe he/she knows you well. try to observe everyone around you or you really have virus/trojan on your pc.

my suggestion is if no one gives crap about you:Change your nickDo not reveal any info regarding you when signing up Do not go online, work offlineCheck your usb maybe he/she installed a usb key-loggerAre you sure that it was restored into factory settings?! - go to mac let them do it for you. - if problem still persist buy a new hd - install a firewall- My best advice switch to Fedora Core and secure your box.

Oh well hope it would help you. The only thing we could advice is prevention not counter hacking them.

As rvs said, counter-hacking seems pretty futile.I would re-install, I don't see how he could immediately get you back. It sounds like he has some client-side progs calling stuff out to him. Once that's gone, and you change IP's and what not, I don't see how he can easily get back?Ofcourse, after such an install, lock your box up as hard as you can before plugging it back into Ethernet

For the install: you still have physical access to the computer, and in my mind that can conquer any remote access. Usage of a live CD with install option seems the thing to do?

In any case: your current situation can not continue. Being unable to work and exposing all your personal information (and that of your contacts), is absurd. Pull the Ethernet cable out of there till you figure out something else to do.

Once a machine is compromise by an attacker, spending time attempting to recover it is a futile approach.

Take your computer down to a local, well known, Mac store and have them take a backup of your data, then format and reinstall the latest Mac OS operating system.

Have them complete a full update of all the software on the computer and set it to do regular auto updates of the software. While this is happening, change any online account's password to new and strong pass-phrases.

Engage the Mac shop's help to update the router you have at home and reset its password and for things such as wireless access points you may own as well.

This will have you at a point where everything is secure and clean.

To avoid the attacker coming back, don't open email attachments from people you don't know or click on links in emails to web sites. There are plenty of on-line basic security guides to give you a better understanding of how to keep your online presence safe.

JollyJokker wrote:I just would never expect a hacker being so obssessed with maintaining access to an ordinary user. and this note exchanging? wow!

I wasn't giving you a hard time; I have a difficult time believing the story as well. Especially when it comes from a fiction writer

Several things struck me as odd.

*Using a high percentage of your CPU doesn't cause your desk to shake.

*What processes does she have to kill every day?

*She studied Unix but can't reload OSX or simply disconnect the machine from the network/internet?

*How did he damage the installation disc?

*Losing the respect of kids over a computer problem seems pretty harsh. It sounds like they would have the savvy to backup files and reload the OS.

*How did the place of employment also get hacked? Is it the same OS? Using the same credentials password? Are the same applications from the internet being installed?

*Careers have been ruined and book deals have been lost? Yet she knows how to boot to a live CD. Why not just save the files on a USB stick at that point?

The whole thing is overly dramatic and doesn't provide very basic technical details (i.e. how were they communicating?). The fact that this occurred on OSX doesn't lend a lot of credibility to the story as well. That's obviously not "hack proof," but it significantly less likely to get owned than Windows. Were random applications from the internet being install?

This would take some serious dedication from the attacker, and most people with the time and abilities would go after financial gain, not harass some random woman on the internet.

I'm not saying this is absolutely fabricated, but it does seem really far-fetched. I just skimmed the other blog posts, but I didn't see any other mention of this, and the other entries have been pretty open (to say the least). I'm also skeptical of new members with "critical issues" that never bother to follow-up and work through the problem.

This seems like a great way to start a social engineering attack. The next post may be asking to help move millions of dollars before the hacker can compromise the account information

Anyway, no offense is intended to the OP. If this is true, please provide more details, so we can get some idea of what's actually going on. You've gotten a lot of good advice for such a scenario. I'd add that you would want to perform a credit check as well; look for any suspicious activity or accounts.

Last edited by dynamik on Sat May 22, 2010 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

I just would never expect a hacker being so obssessed with maintaining access to an ordinary user. and this note exchanging? wow!

this is the first thing that came to mind when reading this story. Why is it so important to keep access to that specific computer??? if the story is true, it must be somebody you know, otherwise there is no reason to do what he is doing (then again if the story is true)

CISSP, CEH, ECSA, OSCP, OSWP, eCPPT, eWAPT

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